Moderna Begins First U.S. Late-Stage Vaccine Trial

  • Date: 28-Jul-2020
  • Source: The New York Times
  • Sector:Healthcare
  • Country:Jordan
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Moderna Begins First U.S. Late-Stage Vaccine Trial

The study aims to enroll 30,000 people this summer and determine whether the vaccine is safe and effective, possibly by November.

On Monday, Melissa Harting of Binghamton, N.Y., volunteered to receive a coronavirus vaccine as part of a trial by the National Institutes of Health and the biotech company Moderna.Credit...Hans Pennink/Associated Press

July 27, 2020Updated 4:30 p.m. ET

The first large study of the safety and effectiveness of a coronavirus vaccine in the United States began on Monday morning, according to the National Institutes of Health and the biotech company Moderna, which collaborated to develop the vaccine.

A volunteer in Savannah, Ga., received the first shot at 6:45 a.m., Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a news briefing.

The study, a Phase 3 clinical trial, will enroll 30,000 healthy people at about 89 sites around the country this summer. Half will receive two shots of the vaccine, 28 days apart, and half will receive two shots of a saltwater placebo. Neither the volunteers nor the medical staff giving the injections will know who will get the real vaccine.

Researchers will then monitor the subjects, looking for side effects. And their main goal will be to